Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong speaks with Dantri/DTiNews reporter on December 26
Talking with Dantri/DTiNews about the issue on December 26, minister Cuong said that the Vietnam Academy of Agriculture has already started the study and tests of the vaccine in their laboratory and there have been positive results.
"This is difficult work but we are determined to carry on," the minister said. "We have been co-operating with several ministries and agencies to boost the process. And we're having experts from the US and the Netherlands to come and work with us next month."
The ministry in July announced the successful testing of the vaccine in its laboratory and at three farms in the northern provinces of Hung Yen, Ha Nam and Thai Binh. In their initial trials, 31 out of 33 pigs injected with the test vaccine were healthy after receiving two shots over a period of over two months while other pigs at the farms died from the virus.
Director of the National University of Agriculture, Nguyen Thi Lan, said the vaccine still needed further research and required testing on a larger scale.
African Swine Fever was first detected in Vietnam in February after being detected in China in August 2018. By December 24, the disease has spread to farms in all 63 provinces of the country, resulting in the culling of almost five million pigs, or 9% of the country's stock.
